Mapping Your Requirements to the NIST Cybersecurity Framework

Today, agencies face a wildly changing threat landscape. Gone are the days when cybersecurity was just an information technology problem. Today, keeping data secure, preventing insider threats and detecting the potential for massive breaches before they happen is everybody’s responsibility.

But it is a complex issue, especially in federal government, where agencies face a unique set of challenges to maintaining their cybersecurity posture. Today, the threat landscape is vast and ever-moving. New sophisticated threats are creating additional risks. Attacks continue to increase in volume and complexity, meaning that the defenses and solutions agencies use must also evolve. And the sensitive data that agencies manage requires special handling, classification and heightened access monitoring for insider threats.

However, government agencies are up for the challenge. They are developing and adopting new guidelines, like the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework (CSF), which is helping agencies implement standard cybersecurity best practices. Additionally, the recently released White House National Cyber Strategy also leverages the framework.

In order to truly adopt all the benefits the CSF provides, agencies must be working with a trusted vendor that can best implement and address each of the critical functions within the CSF.

To better understand how agencies can leverage the NIST Cybersecurity Framework to navigate the changing threat landscape, GovLoop partnered with Quest, a leader in helping build and manage modern, secure and more resilient IT architecture, for this report. In the following pages, we will explore current cybersecurity challenges; how agencies can overcome them by maximizing the framework and how Quest helps agencies navigate the five functions. We’ll also gain insights from Quest experts, including Dan Conrad, Federal Chief Technology Officer; Bryan Patton, Principal Strategic Systems Consultant; and Chris Roberts, Enterprise Architect.